


Dreamer standing tall and strong.

by My_Content_Is_Trash (orphan_account)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Ian is queer, M/M, Millie is Bisexual, Mwotaji is Lesbian, NaNoWriMo, Please Don't Hurt Me, This is my first work, Yin is Genderfluid, Yin is also Asexual, but its pretty chill, everyone is a little gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 12:06:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12817158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/My_Content_Is_Trash
Summary: so this is my first fic. it's gonna basically be this story that I had to write for school, but a little bit different.in a world where inter-species marriage is illegal, Mwotaji is in love with Millie. but Mwotaji is a hyena, and Millie is a mouse. Mwotaji's friends Yin and Ian can tell that this is gonna be a rough year.





	Dreamer standing tall and strong.

Mwotaji sat up and scratched her snout. her mouth tasted like asphalt and dust.

"Mwo, come downstairs!" yelled Neema, her mother, " breakfast is ready!"

Mwotaji got up and walked over to her mirror to make sure she didn't look like a zombie. her hair stuck up in every direction. she smoothed it with her paw and started to walk towards the door when she saw little pieces of paper scattered all over the floor next to her brother Wake's bed. he and her other brother, Mbaya, did this often.

"MOM, THE BOYS ATE MY HOMEWORK. AGAIN." she yelled.

"BOYS!" she heard her mother yell from downstairs.

Mwotaji dredged down the stairs, sure she was only awake because the smell of food wafted through the house. she dreaded having to tell the teacher that her brothers chewed up her pre-algebra. she was barely getting an A in that class anyway, and she couldn't afford to chance it. when her brothers weren't being awful, they were actually pretty funny. her mother named them Mbaya and Wake because it was Swahili for rough and tumble.

she walked into the dingy kitchen and sighed. this place was cruddy, but if you didn't pay attention to its... dingier features, you would see that it had large windows and a great view of the park. you would notice that it always smelled like flowers and herbs. you would be transfixed by her mother's beautiful tapestries, hanging on the wall. Neema didn't have a job, so she spent her spare time weaving and dyeing cloth for some of the other families in the apartment complex. families like that of her friend, Ian. Ian was a coyote, a canine, like her. they were thick as thieves. when they were young, Ian would beg his mother to let him come to Mwotaji's house, and vice versa. they would play fight, jumping and howling and nipping until they passed out. She missed those days when she was allowed to act like a cub. Probably because she was one.

She ate breakfast slowly, hoping that if she missed her bus, her mother would drive her to school instead. As if reading her mind her mother began to speak.

“I'm not driving you to school if that's what you want.” 

She groaned and started eating faster. The bus was a nightmare. A zoo, if you will, but at least she could sit next to Millie. Millie was her best friend, but for the past year, Mwo had been crushing on her hard. Mwo’s favorite part of the day was sitting with her on the bus. Even if Millie returned her affections, they wouldn't be able to get married. Marriage between two species was not legal. The recently appointed President decreed it as soon as he was in office. 

Mwo grabbed her backpack and her lunch money.

“Love you mom!” she called before turning to leave the house.

“Love you too hon!” her mother sang from the bathroom, where she was using the bathtub to dye cloth.

As Mwo walked to the bus stop, she took a moment to appreciate the colors of fall. She decided that when she got to school she would write a poem about it. When she reached the bus stop, she saw that George, the President’s son, was standing there. His whiskers twitched as she walked, and he turned to his boyfriend, Gustav, and said loudly enough for everyone to hear,

“ Hey Gustav, isn't that that one hyena that believes in interspecies marriage rights?”

“Yeah, I think so, George,” Gustav said, playing along.

For the rest of the time until the bus came, everyone stared at her. When the old rustbucket finally arrived, it screeched to a halt, blowing smoke everywhere. The children climbed into the bus, whose driver was coughing furiously. Mwo found Millie and sat down next to her.

“Did they do it again?” Millie asked.

“How did you know!?” 

“You always make this face, and you kind of hunch over and make yourself smaller.”

Mwotaji’s small giggle started building until she was full on laughing. She had actual tears in her eyes. When people started staring, however, she knew she needed to stop.

“Sorry, Mil. I'm probably a huge embarrassment.”

“Never say that again Mwo, or I will literally beat you up.”

Mwo knew that Millie wasn’t one to use improper English, so she took her friend's threat seriously. She apologized, and they spent the rest of the bus ride talking about how their weekends were. When they got to school, they went straight to the language arts room, where they would often go in the mornings to use the computers. Today, Ian and Yin were waiting for them. As he often did in the mornings, Yin was browsing memes on the internet.

"By the way guys, I'm feeling male-ish today.

“Yin, did you know that you have tiny sharp white thingies growing out of your head?” Millie asked.

“No my dearest friend. They’re horns…a sign that I’m reaching maturity” the goat wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, my gosh Yin," Millie punched him in the arm.

"guys! can we puh-lease get started?" Ian whined.

"fine, we can GOAT-aly start!" Yin's laughed his odd, bleating laugh that somehow got everyone else laughing

they all sat down at their computers and signed in. the group of friends had a youtube channel called e-claw-lity (chosen by Yin, of course) that they used to post a variety of things. Mwo used the channel to post her animated shorts, while Ian used it to make gaming videos. Yin talked about anime and scalies, which was some weird group of people that dressed up as fish and lizards and other weird crap. while Millie preferred to do book reviews and DIY videos. they had grown quite popular over the two years that the channel had been up.

still, even they had their haters. George and his stupid henchman/boyfriend Gustav had been angry with Mwo ever since she punched George in the face after he had pushed Millie and called her a "cheese brain". they bullied and insulted Mwo and her friends every chance that they got. recently, however, George's father Edward was elected president. apparently, his father shared the same close-minded view that he had. Like father like son, Mwo supposed. his first order of business was to make interspecies marriage illegal, which, as Mwo was taught, was not something a good president would be doing. Mwo had grown up knowing that she could be whatever she wanted to be, but with one awful law, so many doors closed.

when the bell finally rang, the group logged off of their computers and went upstairs. thinking that the rest of their day would be boring and uneventful. little did they know, they were wrong.

Mwotaji sat in the social studies classroom. all the screeching, howling, and barking from the other students was giving her a headache. she was about to start screaming when suddenly, a buck of surprising stature walked into the room. suddenly, everyone was silent his name was Punkti Fiftien, but he let his students call him Mr. Punkti. Mr. P. taught social studies like he dressed. Fun, and snazzy.  
To Mwo's dismay, there was no learning to be done that day. however, there were plenty of games to be played, fun to be poked, and laughs to be had. in fact, at one point there were too many laughs to be had. everyone stared at Mwo as she laughed hysterically. when this fit of laughing was over, Mwo realized what she'd done. she blushed and wished she could turn invisible, like the class pet, Picasso the chameleon. one person started snickering, while another turned and whispered to her friend. Mwo looked down at her feet.  
"what a marvelous talent, Miss Mwotaji," he said in his fancy British accent. Mwo looked at him, confused.  
"i can see that you do not understand me," he continued, "but i have never heard such a delightful laugh. you should go into comedy!" now everyone else stared at him, confused.  
" Mr. P., I think that you are the one who is confused. she clearly cant control herself. she is a disturbance to classroom learning, not to mention the fact that she's insane," Purred George from the back of the classroom.  
"George, do you think that your tendency to purr when you are comfortable, or twitch your whiskers when you are amused is disruptive of classroom learning?" the teacher asked, clearly formulating a plan.  
"of course not sir! I mean, it's not like i can control it!" he bristled with embarrassment.  
"Well, Miss Mwotaji here cannot control her laughing"  
for the rest of the day, Mwo smiled as wide as her facial muscles would allow.  
________________________________________________________  
"how was your day, my dreamer?" asked her father, Mchapa. 

“It was great dad!” Mwo, who still couldn't stop smiling, replied.

“Are you okay? Dear, if you need to talk about something, i’m always here for you,” he asked, concerned.

“Well, there is something that i’d like to talk about…” 

“Spit it out M!”

“Today, our new teacher actually called george out on something!”

“What did he do?

“He… he called me insane,” she told her father the whole story.

By the time she finished, her father’s facial expression had changed so often that she found herself starting to laugh. Her father joined in, and suddenly, her brothers walked in and started laughing too. Her mother ran in from the bathroom to see what all the commotion was about, and she started laughing too. Mchapa realized that if one of them didn't stop, that they would be laughing all night and into the morning.

“Stop! Stop!” he gasped for breath.

Neema sighed and walked over to their small kitchen/dining room. as she started to prepare dinner, Mwo sat down to start doing her homework. the boys went back to their room to play, and Mchapa picked up his book to start reading again. 

____________________________________________________________________________

George was taller than a house. that, or Mwo was itty bitty. he picked her up with his razor sharp claws and dangled her over his mouth.

"don't you want to join your friends?" his voice sounded contorted and distant like Mwotaji was underwater.

"NO!" she screamed, but he still didn't put her down," NONONONO!"

she screamed as she plunged into darkness, only to wake suddenly, in a cold sweat. it was a dream, but the most real dream she had ever had in her entire life. she put her paw up to her forehead. she stood up and walked into her parent's room. 

"daddy?" she whispered as she shook her father awake, "I think I have a fever..."

he blinked, sat up, and put on his glasses. saying nothing, he walked into the bathroom and opened up the cabinet. he pulled out the thermometer and motioned at Mwotaji to open her mouth. she definitely had a fever. he hugged her and mumbled something about going back to bed, but when he looked into his daughter's eyes, he saw fear. 

"what happened dreamer?"

"more like nightmare-er, dad,"

he nodded in understanding, then brought his little girl in for another hug.

"i'll call the school"

____________________________________________________________________________  
Mwotaji sat on the dingy purple couch that was older than she was. to some, that fact might have been alarming, but Mwotaji loved the old thing. she was using the family laptop, which was also older than her, to look up facts about psychology, her favorite subject. she found a page talking about ADHD, which was super relatable. she closed the computer and sighed. she was supremely bored. all the books were read, all the games were played, and all the homework was done. she closed her eyes, hoping for sleep, but was instead met with an idea. she could write a poem about how bored she was. she opened the laptop and started typing.

Bored. Bored. Bored. 

boredom is a dark cloud, floating over its victim.

it is a pest, 

but not easily squashed by a paw

or chased away by a broom

you cannot tell it to lea-

Mwotaji looked up from the computer. the patter of rain on the window was soothing but distracti  
ng. she whispered the last line of the poem out loud

"you cannot tell it to leave, so it builds a home for itself. right next to your heart, so that when you are lonely, it can pull you close and whisper its song.”

she typed it out and sent it to her friends, asking for edits and suggestions. she awkwardly stood up and walked into the bathroom, where her mother was finishing yesterday's project. she sat down next to her and leaned on her shoulder. Neema put her arm around her cub and sighed. Neema knew that life would be hard for Mwo. she knew that Mwotaji would be picked on and ridiculed. she knew because when she was born, the doctor told her that the baby wouldn't live through the night. she did. she lived through the night, and she lived the next day, and the day after that. she was a fighter. she had fire in her soul.

Neema's parents originally told her to name the child Shenzi. Swahili for savage. She, obviously, did not choose this name. When you looked past the child's bold gaze, you could see that she wanted all the wonders this world had to offer. She was a dreamer. A child so bright and creative was hard to raise, needing constant stimulation, attention, and challenges. it was okay with Neema. she was happy to have such a bright cub. sometimes, Neema wondered what she'd do without her. at first, they homeschooled her. they knew a child so creative would have a hard time adjusting to classroom learning. she didn't go outside much. all she did was read, write, draw, and learn. it was scary and a bit sad to see such a small child so lonely. 

So Neema was determined to find her a friend. she knew a few other people who lived in the apartment complex, including Maya, a coyote who also dyed cloth as a hobby. she had a little boy named Ian. she and Maya met at the park with Mwo and Ian and instantly the two hit it off. all Mwo had to do was start talking about her toy cars and instantly the two ran off to play. They grew up together, running and playing, laughing and dancing. When they decided it was finally time for Mwo to go to school, they sent her where Ian was going. There was an obvious change in Mwotaji’s personality. She loved school. It made Neema very happy to see her daughter so chipper.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

Mwo was tired. that much was true, but she also felt odd. there was a tingling sensation in her belly. after she was sure everyone was either asleep (or not paying any attention) she got out of bed and dressed in warm clothes. she went downstairs where her bike was chained to one of the numerous bike racks and started to unchain it. Mwotaji got on the bike and started riding. she didn't even know where she was going, but still, she rode on. she rode and rode until eventually, she found herself lost in the forest. she heard voices and smelled smoke. she rode in the direction of the noise, stopping when she was close. she got off her bike and set it on the ground, crouching behind a bush.  
"Why don't I look like you mommy?" the voice was a child's.  
"Darling, you are marvelous than I could ever be. you are so special that God had to make you look different." the mother answered.  
"but... i don't look like my brothers either... and they don't look like you..."  
"hush child... you and your brothers are so special that you cannot look the same. it would ruin the special-ness. now go lay down in the tent," the mother's voice was clouded with sadness.  
"when will we get to sleep in real beds mamma?  
"go sleep,"  
Mwotaji waited until she was sure that the child was in the tent. she slowly emerged from the bushes, finger pressed to her mouth. silence. a simple gesture. the woman nodded in understanding. she looked frightened. her rabbit ears stood up and her nose twitched madly. she was terrified  
"please don't wake the kits... no...the fawns...they aren't that either... my offspring... please..." the woman whispered,"their father had to go to the grocery... he has all the money... i can't give you anything..."  
Mwotaji realized that the woman was afraid of her... she thought she was going to steal from her.  
"Ma'am, i'm not here to steal from you. i can't explain why i am here though... i mean... i can, but you're going to think i'm crazy..." Mwo fidgeted with the hem of her coat.  
the woman calmed down and stopped shaking. there was a rustle in the bushes, and the woman made a noise like a frog. the frog noise was made again in return, but this time from a much deeper voice. a pair of antlers poked out of the bushes, followed by the buck that they belonged to. it was Mr. Punkti. Mwo's eyes were as big as saucers.  
"i knew it!" she whisper-screamed.  
"Mwotaji! how nice it is to see you. Have you met my wife, Kaunis? are you feeling any better?" Punkti was polite at home too. surely someone this polite wasn't real. but Mwo knew that he was. she hugged him, thankful for someone she knew.  
"i am, Mr. Punkti," Mwo was hesitant to tell him the truth, but she found herself telling him anyway. she told him everything, from george being in her dream to sneaking out on accident. His face was serious. Mwo thought that he would tell her parents. She started to cry, realizing how far away from home she was. She knew that if her parents found out, they would ground her until she turned eighteen. Maybe, she thought, they would be so mad at her that they would disown her… No… i can’t think like that… but what should i do?  
“Mwotaji? Are you okay? You seem very upset. What is troubling you?” Punkti seemed genuinely sympathetic.  
“I’m afraid that my parents will be upset with me…” Mwotaji trailed off, distracted by the odd, but beautiful, child poking it’s head out of the tent. It was the little girl from before. She was breathtaking. She had the head and upper body of a rabbit, but below the waist she had the graceful and slender legs of a deer. She was flanked by two little boys who looked almost like her. One of them was taller, with the body of a deer and the tail and ears of a rabbit. He, and his brother, had little nubs growing on his head. His brother had the body of a rabbit, but the cloven hooves of a deer. They were amazing, the most beautiful freaks of nature that Mwo had ever seen. She stood there for a few minutes, gaping, until one of the boys spoke. It was the one with the deer body.  
“Close your mouth before you swallow a fly, lady!” he said in the deepest voice he could muster. It was kind of adorable.  
“Tugev! I’m sorry… Mwotaji?” Mwo nodded, “these are our children, Tugev, who just spoke to you, his brother, Häbelik, and his sister, Nunnu. they are... still very little. Only four years old. They are triplets, actually. Please forgive them for their poor manners.”  
“It’s okay ma’am. Maybe they can meet my brothers. They’re only five.” Mwotaji was confused when the woman didn’t return her joy.  
“No no no no. No thank you. If the children are seen, they will be taken away from us and killed. We will be put in prison for the rest of our lives. And that’s best case scenario. At worst, they will make a public example of us. To scare citizens,” Mr. Punkti spoke fast, but Mwo could understand. She was enraged.  
“When the President said that inter-species marriage was illegal, i didn’t think he meant that!”  
“They will put the children in work camps and force them to work until they die of thirst, hunger, and/or exhaustion. It is brutal. There is a camp not too far from here. Sometimes, we sneak food and water to the inmates. They are like our children. Beautiful, yet strange.” the woman spoke to Mwotaji in a powerful way. Mwotaji knew that this woman would be friends with her mother.  
“What if my family met you? They’re real good at keeping secrets. We could help you sneak food to the inmate's.” Kaunis looked at Punkti.

“We will talk about it. First, how about i drive you home. My car has a bike rack,” Mwo nodded.

Later, as they sat in his car, Mwotaji felt a wave of gratitude wash over her.

“Thank you Mr. Punkti,” she whispered before falling into a deep sleep.


End file.
